Reply #5: Sample Letter of Opposition to S. 1955 (Enzi, WY) [View All]

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http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/healthcare/fs/?postId=6026&pageTitle=Sample+Letter+of+Opposition+to+S.+1955+%28Enzi%2C+WY%29
Sample Letter of Opposition to S. 1955 (Enzi, WY)

Dear Senator,

Re: S. 1955 - Junk Health Insurance

We are writing to urge you to oppose S. 1955 (Enzi, Wyo.) which would allow any HMO or insurer to ignore state benefit and service mandates and sell junk health insurance, often deceptively marketed as "association" or "small business" health plans. S. 1955 will allow insurance companies to override HMO Patients' Bill of Rights laws passed in 41 states.

The current attack on states' rights puts millions of patients, many of whom are business owners and self-employed, at risk in a move that amounts to national deregulation of health care.

Dana Christensen bought one of these "association health plan" policies and a special chemotherapy rider, yet was left with nearly half a million dollars in unpaid bills when her husband, Doug, died of bone cancer. These limited benefit health plans have very low maximum benefit payments and no out of pocket maximums for patients, despite fraudulent marketing that claims the plans are better than HMOs. On his death bed Doug urged Dana to divorce him to avoid liability for the bills, which she refused to do. Dana was ultimately able to hold her insurance company accountable and recover her costs under state anti-fraud laws that S. 1955 would put association health plans beyond the reach of.

Pre-empts State Oversight & Allows Junk Health Insurance

S. 1955 allows any insurer to avoid all state regulation as long as it "offers" at least one plan that provides benefits equal to those provided to state employees in one of the five most populous states. However, the bill allows an insurer to price that policy prohibitively high, thus rendering the apparent protection meaningless. Further, one of the five most populous states, Florida, recently approved a high-deductible, low-benefits health plan for state employees. Under S. 1955 any insurer could choose to offer the Florida low-benefits plan and thereby avoid all state regulation.

This massive exemption holds even if no plan that meets the minimal state requirements is actually sold and opens the door to total deregulation of the health insurance market.